Archive for the ‘Green B2B’ Category

Two experts give you the inside story of the green businesses to start today and how to do it.

Green is not a fad and it’s more than the right thing to do.Green businesses are some of the biggest and best business opportunities around today, with opportunities for practically anyone.

In a free one hour webinar on November 11 at 4:00 PM, Glenn Croston and Jim Simcoe lay out the secrets to starting your own green business, including:

The 10 trends driving green business growth

The biggest opportunities today

Finding the opportunity that’s right for you

The 7 assumptions about green that can hold you back

How to market your business on a budget

Eight low cost green steps to take today

How green boosts profits

The 7 keys every investor needs to hear

Who should listen in?Sign-up if you’re:

Looking for the next big thing

Uncertain about the economy

Seeking to boost profits for my existing business

Looking for a new direction with greater meaning

As the founder of EcoLife Consulting, Jim Simcoe works with green entrepreneurs to provide practical guidance based on real-life experience.He knows what works because he’s been there and done it himself.

Glenn Croston is the founder of Starting Up Green (www.StartingUpGreen.com), and the author of “75 Green Businesses” and “Starting Green”, spelling out the hottest green businesses to start today, how to start them, and how to make them successful. He’s also the creator of the Green Biz Blast, helping businesses connect, and the Ecopreneur’s Startup Kit.

My book “75 Green Businesses” took all of these environmental problems and turned them around to show the many opportunities they hold.Looking at how we produce energy, build homes, produce food, provide services, use water, and take care of waste, “75 Green Businesses” highlights the many opportunities for greener, cleaner, businesses can provide solutions and build strong businesses as well.

One of the comments people often have about “75 Green Businesses” is that they want more detailed instructions to move from vision to profitable business.That’s where “Starting Green” comes in, picking up where “75 Green Businesses” left off.“Starting Green” is the how-to guide to make these businesses a reality, providing insight into the green angle on business fundamentals like planning, marketing, and raising capital, and talking in more depth about the hottest green business opportunities today, including solar, energy efficiency, franchises, direct sales, and retail.

I got the chance to talk to a great number of outstanding green leaders while working on the book, for which I am extremely grateful.These are people who are unique not only in their commitment to building a better world, but in their demonstration over and over again that green businesses really can be both successful and profitable.In talking with green leaders like Gary Hirshberg, CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm, and Hunter Lovins, co-author of Natural Capitalism, I was reminded how they have paved the way for so many others.An increasing number of businesses in a wide range of industries are following the green business path every day.And if they can do it, so can you.

Here’s the Table of Contents of “Starting Green”, to give you a taste.You can also use the “Look Inside” function on Amazon to browse through, or Google books, to see more of what it has to offer:

Here’s what some of the green leaders have to say about “Starting Green”:

“Glenn Croston’s Starting Green is the indispensable guide for the entrepreneur of the 21st Century. Croston’s extensive research and incredible examples will illuminate the incredible opportunities within Green Business. Even as a green business owner for the past two decades, I drew countless ideas and inspiration from this book.”

“We face great challenges today in our economy and environment, but the shift toward sustainability offers even greater opportunities. Starting Green gives you the tools to join this revolution with a business of your own. The business case for sustainability is clear; what we need now is action. This book will help you pave the way forward and thrive.”

-Hunter Lovins, Co-author of Natural Capitalism, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, and president and founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions

“The emerging green economy offers a wealth of opportunities for entrepreneurs and innovators, building everything from green-minded service providers to breakthrough products and technologies. Glenn Croston has created a valuable roadmap that can help find the profitable opportunity that’s right for you.”

-Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com, and author of Strategies for the Green Economy

I hope you’ll give it a look, and join in with the growing number of people changing how they do business to help build a more sustainable economy, profitable businesses, and a healthy world for us all to share.

Many people believe that making their business more environmentally sustainable is too expensive or difficult, and would hurt their bottom line.One of the important lessons that green business leaders have found though is that going green can actually save money, and a lot of it.Businesses waste $ billions on energy, water and other resources.Some of the largest corporations like Wal-Mart, DuPont, and 3M have found that wasting less makes their business more competitive, and if it has worked for them it can work for your business too.I spell out the bottom-line savvy green steps that businesses can take in the e-book “Greening Your Business on a Budget”, which has just been released with Entrepreneur Press.

In the course of working on “75 Green Businesses” and my next book “Starting Up Green” (to be released in Fall 2009), I’ve talked to a great variety of people providing services that help the bottom line by going green.Many of these steps save money through actions like improving energy efficiency, traveling less, and wasting less water.Other steps like going carbon neutral can increase visibility and build brand value by demonstrating your commitment to helping the environment as part of doing business.Often going green can even increase productivity, unlocking the energy of employees, partners, and customers who connect with your green mission and want to get involved.

In “Greening Your Business on a Budget”, I focus on the actions that businesses in many industries, and of any size, can take to help the environment and their business at the same time.The chapters in this e-book include:

Chapter 1: A Quick Look at Your Business’s Goals

Chapter 2: Quick Methods to Green Your Facilities

Chapter 3: A Quick Look at Greening Your Office

Chapter 4: Quick Steps to Greening Your Transportation

Chapter 5: Quick Moves for Greener Human Resources

Chapter 6: Quick Pointers for Green Computing

Chapter 7: A Quick List of Potential Green Partners

Chapter 8: A Quick Guide to Greener Marketing

A Quick Conclusion

The Quick Green Checklist

All of the steps described are analyzed according to their impact on business fundamentals, and a checklist for your own green self-audit is included.While the list of steps in this e-book is long, it’s still just a start.We have a long way to go, and this book is only one small part of the story.Not every action makes sense for every business, but by looking through resources like this and translating words into action, you can make an important difference for your business and the world.

One of the best parts about writing “75 Green Businesses” and working on the Starting Up Green site (www.StartingUpGreen.com) is the great group of green entrepreneurs I get to talk to.Some are starting and building their business and can use some help working through the challenges they encounter along the way.Others provide goods and services other businesses need, just what green entrepreneurs are looking for to realize their vision of making money and making a difference.

I’m building Starting Up Green as the meeting place for these two groups, where green businesses providing services and those who need them can find each other and connect, helping each other out.

What kind of services do people need and where can they find them?

Opportunities – One place to look is my book “75 Green Businesses”, and another is the great book by Scott Cooney, “Build a Green Small Business”.

Green Operations – Make your website carbon neutral with CO2Stats.com, or make your whole business carbon neutral with Terrapass.

Recruiting – As a business grows, it often needs to recruit new talent to reach the next level.Dawn Dzurilla of Gaia Human Capital Consulting makes it happen.

You can always Google and work your network to find all of these pieces and sort through them, but having everything in one place makes it easier.If you have a service, get in touch with me to get listed on the Starting Up Green site.If you are looking for a service, check out Starting Up Green or get in touch with me by email – many people and businesses I’ve talked to are not listed on the site yet.

Most of all, keep on greening.

Glenn Croston is the author of “75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference“, the founder of Starting Up Green (www.StartingUpGreen.com), the expert blogger on green business for Fast Company, and the author of “Starting Up Green” coming out this fall, a how to guide to green business success.

Opportunities for greening business are often right in front of us, including the materials we are surrounded by in every office.Just about any business uses office supplies; as the ranks of green businesses grow the need for greener office supplies grows as well.There’s a whole lot more to office supplies than recycled paper though, and it’s not always obvious from looking at an object how green it is.Buying products that get the job done while still doing the right thing for the planet can take some doing without a little help.

The Green Office provides a huge range of products, including everything you would expect to find and a great deal more. There are recycled paper options, of course, ranging all the way up to 100% post consumer content, but that’s only the start.They also provide furniture, cleaning supplies, energy efficient laptops, break room supplies, and of course green envelopes to put your green paper in.How about refillable pens, replacing those millions of pens that get used once and thrown away each year?Every one of these is another part of the path toward creating a more sustainable business.

How do you know which products are green?All of the products are given icons that tell you if they:

contain recycled content

are biodegradable or compostable

have reduced chemical content

are third party certified

are conventional products (these are offered as well)

They also provide services, helping you buy green offsets to reduce your carbon footprint, and connecting to sustainability consultants who can help you with your greening efforts.Webinars can also provide guidance about how to green your office and the rest of your business.

One common misconception about green products is that they don’t work as well as their less green relatives.Another idea about green products is that they always cost a lot more.For green products to be widely adopted, they need to overcome these preconceptions by working well and selling for a competitive price.Buying green office supplies is an easy step to take, and The Green Office makes it even easier.

As entrepreneurs work to green every aspect of their business, one aspect to consider is the impact of the promotional items they use to help market their business.Each item alone may not have a great impact, but millions of pens, cups, shirts and other promotional gear can add up.Proforma Simonetta Freelance is specializing in providing eco-friendly promotional items for businesses, including stainless steel water bottles, bamboo shirts, bags from recycled material, and soy candles.

“Many businesses and organization in their transition to green practices forget about the basic items like cups for the office, uniforms, stationary and giveaways,” said owner John Simonetta. “It is our mission to show that businesses do have eco-friendly options from clothing to promotional items to promote and help grow their business.”